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DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES IZA DP No. 15057 Writing Tips for Economics Research Papers – 2021-2022 Edition Plamen Nikolov JANUARY 2022 DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES IZA DP No. 15057 Writing Tips for Economics Research Papers – 2021-2022 Edition Plamen Nikolov State University of New York (Binghamton, IZA and Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science JANUARY 2022 Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world’s largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. ISSN: 2365-9793 IZA – Institute of Labor Economics Schaumburg-Lippe-Straße 5–9 Phone: +49-228-3894-0 53113 Bonn, Germany Email: publications@iza.org www.iza.org IZA DP No. 15057 JANUARY 2022 ABSTRACT Writing Tips for Economics Research * Papers – 2021-2022 Edition This document summarizes various tips for economics research papers. JEL Classification: A30, A39 Keywords: writing tips, economics, research papers, research studies Corresponding author: Plamen Nikolov State University of New York (Binghamton) Department of Economics 4400 Vestal Parkway East Binghamton NY 13902 USA E-mail: pnikolov@post.harvard.edu * This document has been produced for public service benefit. In the production of this handout, in addition to my thoughts on how to write better economics research papers, I have also relied on other writing-related suggestions or practical tips by John Cochrane, Claudia Goldin, Caroline Hoxby, Lawrence Katz, Greg Mankiw, Robert Neugeboren, and Humberto Barreto. I started this document for the benefit of undergraduate economics concentrators at Harvard College in the Economics 970 sophomore tutorial course, a course I taught between 2009 and 2014. Over the years, the document has expanded and benefited from numerous helpful comments by students at Harvard College, Harvard Kennedy School, and The State University of New York (Binghamton). I thank Matthew Bonci, Sharon Itin, Declan Levine, and William Lombardo for outstanding research support in the update of this document. I. General Tips about Writing Style When I read economics research papers, I look for the author's ability to motivate an interesting question using economic logic, critically analyze the past literature, and recognize empirical problems as they arise. Your research paper should also highlight a central novelty related to existing economics research. Your research paper should demonstrate that you are more knowledgeable in your analysis of applied microeconomics issues than a witty editorial writer for The New York Times. To this end, you should present evidence, cite literature, explain economic trade-offs, and approach your central thesis from an analytic perspective. Students are occasionally tempted to write an opinion piece or adopt a tone that resembles journalistic writing. This is not the purpose of economics research papers! Teaching economics writing is an essential aspect of communicating good economics research well. You will get a lower grade if your writing is: • ungrammatical • unclear • journalistic If you have trouble writing grammatically, please leave yourself some extra time to go to a writing tutor at the University’s Writing Resource Center. Clarity takes priority when writing about economics. Do not worry about sounding sharp if your writing is clear. Economists have a particular writing style that is useful to learn if you want to be taken seriously by other economists. Below are some of the essential features of the “economics style.” The desirable tone and writing style are exemplified in some of the peer-reviewed papers listed on the syllabus. Some of the stylistic features may seem arbitrary, but you should follow them anyway • Favor the present tense. For instance: “Mullainathan (2000) finds that...” or “In this paper, I attempt to....” • Use formal in-text citations for books and articles. Do not describe them in your writing o Write: “Mullainathan (2000) finds that...” o Do not write: “Sendhil Mullainathan, in a 2006 journal article....” • Use the active voice. Do NOT use the passive voice. The active voice is a more efficient use of language, and it is much easier to read. Make sure the subject of the sentence is the one doing the action of the verb(s) of the sentence and avoid any unnecessary use of the verb “to be.” For example: o Write: “I collected data….” o Do not write: “Data was collected….” • Direct and simple sentences are the most effective ways to deliver a message. • Use “I” when you mean “I” and use “we” when you mean “we.” o Personal pronouns (I, we, she/he, them, etc.) are acceptable in economics papers. o For instance, you might use “we” to talk about something that everyone could be expected to appreciate: “We expect that highly selective colleges enroll few students who had low grades in secondary school.” o Use “I” to talk about what you specifically did: “I use data from....” 2
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